All Forum Posts by: Chris Szepessy

I'm assuming he/she asked you to do it because they know you have a key to the place.  A friend probably would not have one.  I would let the dog out since you have more to lose if you don't, like @Patrick M. said.  I would not use it as a reason to check the whole house, but you can probably see everything you need to see with a brief scan of the place while getting the dogs leash or making sure it has water. You have the text from them that says it's ok to go in, so that should protect you if they say you entered illegally.  Highly doubt they would since you're doing them a favor. It's a tricky business sometimes. Maybe tell them that you may not always be available so they should make sure someone else has a key to get in to help them if there is an issue in the future.  

What did you decide to do?

Originally posted by @Andrew B.:

Originally posted by @Chris Szepessy:

Originally posted by @Jason H Orahoske:

Ok, thanks for clarifying.  No late payments at all on my credit report until at least February of 2019 (that was my last late).  I can handle that, I'll make extra payments to make sure I'm a couple months ahead just in case disaster strikes.  I currently have 2 credit cards that I pay in full every pay check and a car payment that I'm trying to refinance and pay off.  Would it benefit me at all to get any other accounts to show that I have many that I am paying on time?  It'd be nice if there were things I could do to get that credit score ready so that I am offered the best interest rates, I was wondering if that was something I could do to help boost it up.

It's great to pay extra on a loan/mortgage, but it's not considered a "pre-payment."  Whatever extra you pay on your loan goes toward principle for that month.  If you fall on hard times again in say 6 months, you're still going to be required to make the payment (in full) that month.  If you don't, it will negatively affect your credit score again.  Just something to keep in mind.  

I'm no credit expert, but now may not be the best time to apply for new credit.  With an already low credit score, the chance of being approved for another credit card is pretty slim and the hard inquiry will lower your score even more, although probably temporarily.  I'd work on getting your 12 months of on time payments for your mortgage and keep paying off your credit cards monthly.  Not sure how much you owe on the car and/or what the rate is or if you owe more than it's worth, but possibly selling the car and buying a used car for cash might not be a bad idea.  You could use that car payment money to save up for a down payment on an investment property when your credit score recovers.  Either way, you seem to be on the right track and I'm sure you'll get through this and be successful in the near future.  

 The pre-payment thing may depend on the mortgage servicer. My monthly statements specifically state that extra payments do not get applied to principal unless I specifically tell the bank that's what they are for. If I just send a double check, they apply to next months payment.

You're right.  I had originally wrote "usually/sometimes applied to principal" but must have deleted it.  Thanks for the clarification!

Originally posted by @Jason H Orahoske:

Ok, thanks for clarifying.  No late payments at all on my credit report until at least February of 2019 (that was my last late).  I can handle that, I'll make extra payments to make sure I'm a couple months ahead just in case disaster strikes.  I currently have 2 credit cards that I pay in full every pay check and a car payment that I'm trying to refinance and pay off.  Would it benefit me at all to get any other accounts to show that I have many that I am paying on time?  It'd be nice if there were things I could do to get that credit score ready so that I am offered the best interest rates, I was wondering if that was something I could do to help boost it up.

It's great to pay extra on a loan/mortgage, but it's not considered a "pre-payment."  Whatever extra you pay on your loan goes toward principle for that month.  If you fall on hard times again in say 6 months, you're still going to be required to make the payment (in full) that month.  If you don't, it will negatively affect your credit score again.  Just something to keep in mind.  

I'm no credit expert, but now may not be the best time to apply for new credit.  With an already low credit score, the chance of being approved for another credit card is pretty slim and the hard inquiry will lower your score even more, although probably temporarily.  I'd work on getting your 12 months of on time payments for your mortgage and keep paying off your credit cards monthly.  Not sure how much you owe on the car and/or what the rate is or if you owe more than it's worth, but possibly selling the car and buying a used car for cash might not be a bad idea.  You could use that car payment money to save up for a down payment on an investment property when your credit score recovers.  Either way, you seem to be on the right track and I'm sure you'll get through this and be successful in the near future.  

I don't have an issue with the dog (other than your insurance not allowing it).  My issue would be the potential tenant who is willing to sue you and anyone else for no reason at all.  This person almost sounds like a "professional tenant."  Sounds like your PM is related to this person, owes someone a favor, or promised them the place before consulting you.  After 6 years of doing a great job, there's gotta be more to the reason why your PM is so adamant about renting to this person.

If/when he gets rid of the puppies, you may want to require him to get his older dogs spayed/neutered otherwise it's probably going to happen again.  I love animals, but I see it a lot where someone starts off with two dogs or cats and a year later, they have 40 because they can't find anyone to take the babies or afford to fix them all, so they start inbreeding and then it just gets out of control. 

The first rental I bought had a bunch of fleas in it from the previous tenants.  I got the cans of "fogger'' and removed the carpets and that took care of the problem.  The house was vacant/unrehabbed at the time, so it made it pretty easy.  In your situation, it might be best to contact a pest company and let them handle it.  

I work for the PO and there’s always talk about closing rural offices and consolidating them with the next town/village/city in order to save money. However, it’s part of the gov’t so almost nothing gets done. They usually just end up reducing the hours of the office to save money on employees and utility bills. Just make sure you could repurpose the place in the event they don’t renew after the next 5 years.

It's great that you want to get started so early.  I wish I had done the same.  I recommend reading all you can and spending some time in the forums here to learn all you can before you're ready to buy.  As for credit cards, @Crystal Robens has a good idea.  You could also apply for one or two store credit cards.  They usually approve you for $3-500.  Just make sure to pay it off monthly so you don't accrue interest and get into trouble with it.  

I agree with most that cash flow is important.  However, my two rentals just break even.  They are owner financed on 10 and 12 year mortgages so my mortgage payment is much higher than if it were on a 30 year note.  I'm willing to take the "risk" in order to have them paid off so quickly.  Also, my loan was written so that it could be modified if necessary to prevent default.  The guy who sold me the houses is basically a mentor to me and wanted to help me get started.  In most cases it's not a good idea to break even or be negative cash flow, unless it's for a very short time until rents could be raised after renovations or something like that.  

How sure are you that they will actually leave? Without a job, he may have no where else to go even though college is ending.  Unless he's going back home.  It may not be a bad idea to just start the eviction by posting a notice.  The eviction is going to take longer than a month anyway, but you don't want to be too far behind if you do need to evict.